The present disclosure relates to a mobile device, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for processing signals in a mobile device.
The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the Internet of Things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and the Big Data processing technology through connection with a cloud server, has emerged. As technology elements, such as “sensing technology”, “wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure”, “service interface technology”, and “Security technology” have been demanded for IoT implementation, a sensor network, a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and so forth have been recently researched.
Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technology services that create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to a variety of fields including smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected cars, smart grid, health care, smart appliances and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing Information Technology (IT) and various industrial applications.
Since many components are combined to support various functions and performances in mobile devices for IoT implementation, the demand for high-rate data transmission between chips or devices in a mobile device has been increasing. For example, the resolution of some display devices in mobile devices have increased from full high definition (FHD) to quad HD (QHD), and an image sensor can also support a resolution of 1.3 million pixels with 10 million pixels or more not being uncommon. In addition, mobile devices can now use accessories requiring signal transmission in a high frequency band to use a camera or a display. To transmit such a signal in a high frequency band between chips or devices, the mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) standard that defines interfaces between components of a mobile device is widely used.
FIG. 1 illustrates exemplary interfaces defined for respective usages in a general mobile device conforming to the MIPI standard.
For convenience of description, a simplified configuration of a mobile device 100 is shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile device 100 may include an application processor (AP) 102 for controlling overall signal processing, a modern 104, and a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) 106, and may be connected to additional devices supporting various performances and functions. For example, the MIPI standard defines a display serial interface (DSI) as an interface for a display unit 108 and a camera serial interface (CSI) as an interface for a camera 110. Links may also be established for a microphone 112 and a speaker 114 through the modem 104 and serial low-power inter-chip media bus (SLIMbus). Further, sensors 120 or a battery 122 may be mounted in the mobile device. Each device may transmit and receive signals to and from the AP 102 via an interface defined for the device.
MIPI standard mainly uses serialization for an interface between internal devices in a mobile device. Hardware configurations are simplified by serialization, and differential pairing can be used to enable robust implementation for a high data rate interface. MIPI has defined D-PHY and M-PHY as physical layers for data communication within a mobile device, and they are implemented as differential serial interfaces. Because of limitations in transmitting a high-bandwidth signal with the physical layer (PHY) specification, high-bandwidth signals are handled by increasing the number of physical lanes.
The trend for mobile devices is that additional devices or sensors, such as a heartbeat sensor or a humidity sensor, are used in addition to devices commonly included such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor or an accelerometer. Control signals for these additional devices have a narrower bandwidth than video or image signals. However, each additional device has a separate lane for control signals to allow for better control of each additional device. Accordingly, the number of lanes for control signals may be awkward to manage as the number of internal devices increase.
The number of physical lanes for interfaces between chips or devices in a mobile device has been increasing for the above-described reasons, and interference between physical lanes leads to many problems in terms of signal integrity, electro-magnetic interference (EMI), and chip layout for physical connections.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.